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Florida could lose slots money

FLORIDA – As reported by the Miami Herald: "Florida could miss out on lucrative slot revenues from Seminole casinos if the federal government steps in to allow Las Vegas-style slot machines at tribal casinos.

"The U.S. Department of the Interior may intervene to allow the Class III slot machines even if the state will not, and has proposed 28 pages of procedures spelling out how the slot machines would be run. The agency says it could make the rules final by the end of November if the Seminoles don't reach a deal with the state.

"The Seminoles asked the Interior Department, which oversees Indian affairs, to get involved after the tribe and governor failed to reach an agreement, known as a 'compact,' to get the higher-stakes games.

"All states that have a compact with an Indian tribe for Class III, Vegas-style gaming also have a mechanism for revenue sharing with the state, except for Minnesota, said Shawn Pensoneau, spokesman for the National Indian Gaming Commission, a federal agency that oversees gambling on Indian reservations.

"The Seminole Tribe wants the Vegas-style machines to compete with those coming to three Broward County race tracks and Dania Jai-Alai.

"…Under the Interior Department's proposed procedures, the state would not get a share of the tribe's gambling revenues…"

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